


The Butterfly Effect

by Han_nix



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-05 14:51:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18368267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Han_nix/pseuds/Han_nix
Summary: Hoo boy, welcome to the world of Primaries. Because this story takes place in a series of unpublished stories, I'm going to introduce the characters as they come up.This story takes place in a world where some people have superpowers. The characters in this story are part of "The Academy", which houses and trains young individuals with Superpowers. The world is based in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated tv series, but be warned, we got a little carried away with the canon.In this chapter, you'll be introduced to Phoenix, Spinerette, Storm Spider, Baron Andrew Papillon. Time to unpack all of this,Phoenix is our main character. She has advanced hand-to-hand combat skills, and has the ability to shapeshift into a Merlin. Her real name is Elizabeth Martin. Her partner is Storm Spider, an advanced, independent Symbiote. They share a very close bond, and live together in their apartment a few blocks away from the academy.Barron Andrew Papillon (also called BP, or just Papillon) is Phoenix's multi-millionaire friend. Prior to this story, their relationship dwindled. She never really trusted him anyways.Spinnerette is the leader of the academy, and one of Phoenix's best friends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hoo boy, welcome to the world of Primaries. Because this story takes place in a series of unpublished stories, I'm going to introduce the characters as they come up.  
> This story takes place in a world where some people have superpowers. The characters in this story are part of "The Academy", which houses and trains young individuals with Superpowers. The world is based in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated tv series, but be warned, we got a little carried away with the canon. 
> 
> In this chapter, you'll be introduced to Phoenix, Spinerette, Storm Spider, Baron Andrew Papillon. Time to unpack all of this,  
> Phoenix is our main character. She has advanced hand-to-hand combat skills, and has the ability to shapeshift into a Merlin. Her real name is Elizabeth Martin. Her partner is Storm Spider, an advanced, independent Symbiote. They share a very close bond, and live together in their apartment a few blocks away from the academy.  
> Barron Andrew Papillon (also called BP, or just Papillon) is Phoenix's multi-millionaire friend. Prior to this story, their relationship dwindled. She never really trusted him anyways.  
> Spinnerette is the leader of the academy, and one of Phoenix's best friends.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix suspects something. Storm Spider has an idea.

1-

“New York Multi-Millionaire Andrew Papillon named CEO of Mega-petrol Viceroy”

Elizabeth scanned the headline of Crain’s New York Business tossed on her desk. Her eyes darted around the page, then came to a stop at an all-too-familiar name.  
“Papillon. Viceroy. You have got to be kidding me.”  
“Yeah, I was just as surprised” replied her friend and chief-commander, Amanda, before adjusting her coat and walking out. Elizabeth wedged the newspaper in her backpack between folders and case files.  
“Hey, check your Email when you get a minute,” said Amanda, who had poked her head back through Elizabeth’s door.

***

Elizabeth retrieved her apartment keys from her backpack and unlocked the door.  
Without turning on the light, she dropped her bag and coat and walked over to the bowl of fresh- or at least by NYC standards- blueberries sitting on the kitchen counter. She tossed one up in the air, much higher than it needed to go, and waited for it to fall into her mouth.  
It did not.  
She looked up and saw the silhouette of her partner, Storm Spider, on top of the fridge with the blueberry in his hand. Elizabeth looked at him with a smirk and shook her head.  
“Storm Spider, remind me again of our rule.”  
“Your rule”  
“...My rule” she responded with a sigh.  
“No punching holes in the walls?” He knew exactly what rule she was talking about, but he found it amusing to mess with her, so he chose an alternate response.  
“The other rule…”  
“If I’m here when you arrive, I have to let you know.”  
“...And?”  
“I have to let you know when I leave,” he said with a mocking tone.  
“And why didn’t I hear from you when I entered?” She crossed her arms and tilted her head, still maintaining a coy demeanour.  
“Relax, ‘nix! You’re going to lose your feathers from all the stressing you’re doing. Besides, I just got here too,” He said as he jumped down from the fridge and threw the blueberry at her face. Eliza stepped over to the door to grab her bag and turn on the light.  
“What d’ya got in your bag of tricks today?” Storm Spider asked, sliding onto the countertop.  
A sly smile grew on her face as she pulled out the newspaper and handed it to her partner.  
“‘Viceroy Petrol Prepares for 12th annual ‘Giving Wings’ Celebrity Tournament’?”  
“Other side, goose” She joked.  
“What about ‘Analysts’ Baffled Over Climbing Produce Stocks’?”  
“Just- give it to me,” Elizabeth said, trying to grab the page back, but her partner held it out of reach. She stood down, but not before jabbing him with her elbow.  
“‘New York Multi-Millionaire Andrew Papillon named CEO of Mega-petrol Viceroy.’ What about it?”  
“Keep reading” Phoenix pulled out her phone as she instructed him on.  
“oh... Oh... OH. You could've just said so,” Storm Spider held the paper back from his face.  
“See what I mean?” she said, looking up from her phone, where she scrolled through the Email from Amanda. There was no subject, and the only content was a link from a dodgy news site.  
“Come check out this link Spinnerette sent me. Apparently BP is supposed to appear at a business convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey in two days for some important press release. We should go check it out.”  
“Check it out? What for?”  
“See what he’s up to, y’know?”  
“Jeez, ‘Nix. You’re obsessed,”  
“C’mon, you’re just saying that to spite me,”  
“Nope. Not at all,” He said while swiping the phone out of her hand so he could read the article himself.  
Phoenix glared back at her partner.  
“It’s definitely something, Storm Spider. There's definitely something up with him that's worth investigating.” Storm Spider gazed at Phoenix for a moment, trying to understand her urgency.  
“You say that like he hasn’t been nefarious this whole time!”  
“Why would Pap’ suddenly want into the oil business?”  
“I dunno, its Papillon! If you're gonna be so adamant about it, why don't you put together a team? You've been mentioning how cool it would be to have one again.” He antagonized.  
“No thanks. I don't need a team for this. I’ve handled him myself plenty of times before,” She stated.  
“Think about it ‘nix. He's a manipulator. You might want a couple of people to have your back. I mean, not that you're not capable of handling yourself.”  
“It's a press conference,” she said straight out.  
“Get a different angle or something. Trust me,”  
“Are you implying that you’re not coming?”  
“I don’t know ‘nix. Sounds like there’s gonna be a lot of people… Best have someone who can handle themselves in crowds like that,” he said, almost challenging her.  
“Y’think?”  
“I do!” he said, scanning the open fridge he stood in front of. Phoenix gave him a half smile- she had an idea, and she wasn’t sure how he’d take it.  
“I don’t like that look!” He said, voice tinged with playful panic.  
“Y’know what? I’ll call up Seyryn.” Her face showed satisfaction towards her idea.  
Storm Spider mirrored her look.  
“Do it.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix finds an old friend. Storm Spider worries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tesla, as it's mentioned in the story, hasn't been seen in four years. Basically, he's a space-ninja-lightning-dude, who doesn't talk much.  
> Seyryn is Phoenix's teammate. He also has a Symbiote partner, named Funnel Shard. We'll get into him later.   
> Phoenix doesn't work with Seyryn much after moving to her new apartment.

2-  
The Triskelion-  
9:03 pm

Seyryn cracked open the entrance to his dorm.  
“Are you busy?” she asked rather nonchalantly in context to the situation.  
“Phoenix! Not even a hello? You never call, you never write…” Seyryn poked at her.  
“I texted you three days ago and you left me on read,” she responded, not accepting his joke.  
“But face to face; it feels like it's been forever,” he said, still pushing his humour onto her.  
“Is two weeks really that long?” She gave back.  
“Hold on,” Seyryn closed the door again; Phoenix crossed her arms and waited. She heard the faint wisps of a conversation inside, but couldn’t extract the muttered words, not that she needed to. She knew exactly who he was talking to.  
Seyryn returned to open the door fully and invited her in. She did a visual sweep of the room to look for his partner, but didn’t see him. 

“What's up?” He asked while taking off his helmet then dropping himself on the couch. Phoenix handed Seyryn the article. Seyryn read it- once- twice, feeling as if he missed what Phoenix was implying.  
“I don’t get it”  
“Baron Papil-”  
“-Yeah, I get that, but why do you need to show me this?”  
“He’s speaking at a press conference in tomorrow-”  
“-The North East Petrol’ conference?” Seyryn jutted. Phoenix narrowed her eyes at him. “What. Have you already forgotten who I am?” he said sardonically. Phoenix dropped all expression from her face.  
“So, in or out?” she said, bringing the conversation back.  
“In,” he said, exposing some excited glow through his hard shell. He took his helmet under his arm and picked himself up. Phoenix followed his lead.“Name the time and place, I’ll be there”. Seyryn took her to the door.  
“South Street office. 8:15 tomorrow morning,”

***

As she made her way back to her apartment that night, she took in her surroundings, making a mental note of everything she saw and heard. One easily becomes jaded to the broken record of Manhattan. At first it’s stark and alarming, however in very little time it will become just another second hand on the clock; a steady and monotonous sign that despite all, life moves on. During late summer nights like this, the breeze is funnelled through the streets of Manhattan’s grid system, creating a wind tunnel-like effect. This effect was often advantageous to Phoenix, granted her flight-path was in the right direction. Tonight was not one of those nights. 

She approached the back alley behind her apartment and sought out the shadows to cloak the transformation to her human form. Just as she change she realized- too late- that these shadows were already occupied. Instinctively, she took a defensive stance as her brain processed the figure in front of her: A cold black suit with linear blue details encasing a confident posture- she realized it was an old acquaintance: Tesla. She froze in place, aghast; Tesla had been missing for four years, gone without a trace, and had just appeared right in front of her, like a phantom from her past. She stood down.

“T-tesla,” she said in shock after regaining her composure.  
“I hope you know you're getting yourself into something much bigger than you think,” he stated, hands illuminating as he summoned a bright flash of energy. And just as quick as he appeared, he vanished, aided by the unexpected light. Phoenix peered around the corner, trying to catch any sign of where he might have gone. No luck, not that she expected success. 

As she returned to the back alley behind her apartment building, she sorted through the questions in her mind.  
How did he know what I was up to?  
She pulled the ladder from the fire escape down.  
Is it even worth asking? Getting information out of him is hard enough.  
She tossed her hair over her shoulder and started to climb.  
Am I really getting myself into something bigger than I think?  
Phoenix made it to her balcony and tried to pull the sliding glass door open. It was locked from the inside.  
“Dammit!” She slipped under her breath, exasperated. She slid her bag off and checked the time on her phone. 

 

22:32  
//PX>SS  
>Are you home?  
Are you close?  
Ok, never mind  
Nothing. It’s fine  
Regular fine. I swear  
//

 

***

 

Storm Spider found himself on the outskirts of the city people-watching when Phoenix had contacted him and started on his way home immediately after.  
'She's probably fine' he told himself.  
'She can take care of herself. She's determined. Scratch that- she's stubbornly persistent.'

He unlocked the door at 11:12 pm, and was surprised to see Phoenix sitting on the living room floor surrounded in a flurry of papers. Without looking up, she greeted him.  
“Why'd you ask if I was home?” He inquired.  
“Oh. Yeah. I was locked out”  
Storm Spider paused and looked around.  
“...Oh? Yeah? You were?” He said with confusion.  
“Yeah. I went around to the front door.”  
He sighed in frustration, finally gaining her attention.  
“Phoenix, I was worried! I came home right away. I was on the outskirts of town!”  
“I never said you had to come-” she replied, breaking eye contact and going back to her papers. “-I just wanted to see if you were home so you could unlock the door,”  
Storm spider shook his head and made his way over to the couch.  
“It's 11:17. Go to bed.”  
Phoenix pretended not to hear him and continued reading the papers that surrounded her. Several seconds passed before she gathered the papers and slid them into a large envelope with the letters “NFC” written on the front with black ink. She stood up and let out a large breath as she stretched.  
“He’s in,” she said, then turned her back and started for her bedroom, but stopped before she turned the corner and turned to face him.  
Storm Spider looked at her for a moment, squinting as he tried to attach meaning to her words.  
“Oh, ok. Good. And Funnel Shard?”  
“I never really asked. He never brought it up”  
“So you don’t know,”  
“I guess we’ll see tomorrow.” Storm Spider sighed, slightly more frustrated.  
“Are you coming? It's late.” She said with a smirk on her face.  
“In a bit. I have to think about everything you just told me” Storm Spider said. He sat down in the living room and waited until he heard Phoenix get into bed, then slunk to their bedroom.  
“Can I borrow your bike keys?” Storm Spider asked softly as he poked his head into the door. Phoenix sat up.  
“Right now?”  
“No, for tomorrow. Just in case. I’m gonna check out an off-site demo Viceroy’s doing for the expo” he said hesitantly.  
“Oh! Yeah, sorry. I meant to ask if you wanted to do that,” An air of relief settled over the room.  
“Oh, ok. Thanks” he said, voice small. He slunk back through the doorframe and turned off the lights that Phoenix neglected, then returned to bed. Phoenix observed his movements as he did so, and felt grateful for his simple presence.


End file.
